Victor Posner

Victor Posner
Historical photo of Victor Posner
Born	Victor Posner (1918-09-18)September 18, 1918 Baltimore, Maryland
Died	February 11, 2002(2002-02-11) (aged 83) Miami Beach, Florida
Occupation	Investor, businessman, corporate raider
Known for	LBO artist
Children	four

Victor Posner (September 18, 1918 – February 11, 2002) was an American businessman. He was known as one of the highest-paid business executives of his generation. He was a pioneer of the leveraged buyout.

Of Russian-Jewish descent, he was born in Baltimore, Maryland, one of nine children of grocers Morris and Mary Posner. Though he left school at age 13, he claimed to have earned his first million dollars by the age of 21 by investing in real estate, although financial records do not confirm this. Taking advantage of the post-World War II demand for housing in America, in 1948, he developed land and built houses in the Baltimore area, and by 1952, was building more than 1,100 dwellings per year. In 1954, he moved to Miami Beach, Florida, where he continued to invest in real estate and publicly traded companies. He became the head of numerous companies over his career, including Security Management Corporation (owner of rental property in Maryland and Florida), DWG Corporation, (Arby's and Royal Crown), NVF Company, Sharon Steel Corporation, Pennsylvania Engineering Corporation, Salem Corporation, APL Corporation, Evans Products, Graniteville, and Southeastern Public Service Company.

Posner's primary vehicle was the Deisel-Wemmer Co., a cigar manufacturer and importer based in Ohio, which was founded in 1884. By January 23, 1929, Deisel-Wemmer incorporated as Deisel-Wemmer-Gilbert Corporation (DWG) when acquired by an investment group. DWG was a small outfit and just to keep up market share purchased other small cigar companies like Odin cigars in 1930 and the Bernard Schwartz Cigar Corporation in 1939. The Company on May 15, 1946, changed its name to a simple name, DWG Cigar Corporation. Another series of acquisitions started in 1948 with the Nathan Elson Company following with A. Sensenbrenner & Sons in 1955 and in 1956 Chicago Motor Club Cigar and Reading, Pennsylvania-based Yocum Brothers. With the weaking of the cigar market due to medical advisories, many smokers switch to cigarettes, which were then believe to be safer. DWG then steamlined cigar operations and began looking for other businesses that might suite DWG's wholesale and distribution strength. The delisted DWG in 1965 after an attempt at purchasing Allegheny Pepsi bottling company failed. DWG, thus free from NYSE reporting requirements, sold their remaining cigar operations or closed them in 1966. Renamed as DWG Corporation, DWG used its cash from the cigar operation sale to purchase a 12% share of the National Propane Corporation. Security Management Company, headed by Victor Posner, a major investor in DWG saw potential with the company as it was bold to sell its main operation. Posner saw it as a good takeover vehicle and became the controlling interest of DWG.